The $1 million Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (G1) featured a field of 13 older fillies and mares sprinting 7 furlongs on the main track. Great Lady M (G2) and Ballerina Stakes (G2) winner Marley's Freedom was sent off as the 9-10 favorite in the field of 14 over 11-2 Selcourt, winner of the Santa Monica (G2) and Las Flores (G3), and 6-1 Golden Mischief, winner of the Thoroughbred Club of America (G2).

The cavalry charge down the stretch.

Jockey Tyler Baze sent Selcourt to the lead exiting the chute through fractions of 21.89 and 44.99 while pressed by 61-1 Happy Like a Fool and stalked by 14-1 Chalon. At the top of the lane Selcourt tired badly alllowing Chalon to inherit a short lead through 3/4 in 1:09.78, but 26-1 Shamrock Rose, last for the first 1/2 mile under Irad Ortiz Jr., rallied and came through between horses to win by a head in 1:23.13. It was another neck back to 32-1 Anonymity third, and a head more to favorite Marley's Freedom in 4th to complete the 4 horse photo finish.

Left: Shamrock Rose in the winner's circle. Winning trainer Mark Casse said,  "Was I surprised we won? It was a tough race, but she's a good horse. I told Irad I don't know if she's good enough, but she'll give you everything she has. And, she's good. It goes back to Allen Jerkens who always said run them when they're good' so we came back in two weeks."

Right: The trophy presentation for the Filly and Mare Sprint. Winning owner Manfred Conrad said, "We had faith in the horse and naturally I listened to Mark and she's been doing so great the last four races and why not have the fun and the excitement and come here. So if it you lose, you lose. I mean it's horse racing. That's what it is. And I really believe the horse is not done yet, in my opinion. She's just a great horse."

Left:
Shamrock Rose in the post parade. Winning jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. said,  "I let her be happy. She settled nice for me. She
was like fourth and when I dropped in and got through horses, she came running."

Right: Shamrock Rose heads back to the barn with her new winner's blanket escorted by trainer Mark Casse. Casse added, "I was a little concerned she was dropped back as far, but one thing about it, we have one of the best riders in the world on her and he made a decision, which, after about an eighth of a mile, which made us win the race. If it wasn't for that, and that was he chose, he knew the only chance of winning was to duck in, save ground and come with a run. Had he stayed out wide we wouldn't be here right now."

Left: Second place finisher Chalon in the post parade. Trainer Arnoaud Delacour said, "She had a great trip and Javier gave her a great ride. The 7/8 may have been a touch too far, but you can't take anything away from her. I'm very pleased." Jockey Javier Castellano added,  "It was a great race. I got good position right from the start and we were going good. I thought I had a good chance coming down the stretch but she was just second best. She gave me everything she had and that was really good."

Right: Third place finisher Anonymity returns after the race. Trainer Richard Mandella said, "She is a little short on experience. We decided to let her settle today and she looked like she was a little bit intimidated by other horses but she
came on strong." Jockey Flavien Prat added, "We got caught a little wide on the final turn, but I
was very happy with the way she ran. She gave it her all down the stretch and we almost got there."

Left: Fourth place finisher and beaten favorite Marley's Freedom walks over before the race. Trainer Bob Baffert said,  "She just didn't get
away like she can. I am pretty disappointed. And she was pretty wide the whole way. She tried but she
was just not good enough today. You have to be real good today and she was not real good. She didn't
have her punch today, didn't run her race. Didn't bring her A game."

Right: The finish with all four in a row at the wire. From the rail out: Chalon, Shamrock Rose, Anonymity, and Marley's Freedom. Jockey Mike Smith aboard Marley's Freedom said, "She was hung out really wide and she just didn't get a hold of it and kick like she can."

Breeders' Cup Weather - Check out the latest weather forecasts for the Breeders' Cup at Churchill Downs. Looks rainy and cold right now.

Review: Crushing the Cup 2018 - by Jim Mazur and Peter Mallett. An invaluable tool for trying to unlock the mysteries of handicapping the Breeders' Cup races at Churchill Downs. Updated for 2018, this is their 27th anniversary edition and seventh for Churchill Downs.

2017 Breeders' Cup Wrap Up - Records set, statistics, first-time winning jockeys and trainers, how previous winners finished, and more for the 34th running of the Breeders' Cup at Del Mar.

2017 Breeders' Cup Friday - There were four Breeders' Cup races on Friday at Del Mar headlined by the Distaff (G1) where Forever Unbridled held off Abel Tasman to win by a half length. Also on the card, Rushing Fall won the Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1), Battle of Midway won the Dirt Mile (G1), and Mendelssohn won the Juvenile Turf (G1). Get the results, charts, and photos for all 8 stakes on the card. More photos: Juvenile Turf -
Juvenile Fillies Turf - Dirt Mile - Distaff

The Breeders' Cup Championship Day - The official page for the Breeders' Cup championship races. Just about anything you need to know about it: results, video clips, and race calls for past years, and eventually nominations, entries, and results.

Free Prep Replays - for major prep races in the Breeders' Cup Challenge. The ones with camera logos have video available.

Breeders' Cup Supplemental Entries - The old official policy on supplemental entries plus all the supplemental entries and how they fared, mostly it was a losing proposition. There are no more supplements now, only late nominations making it impossible to track since the change.